Indian share markets remained volatile throughout the day today and ended on a flat note.

The gains made by power stocks were offset by a fall in IT stocks and FMCG stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood flat and ended lower by 49 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed down by 10 points.

NTPC, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Steel were among the top gainers today.

Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, and HUL on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,669, lower by 15 points, at the time of writing.

The broader markets ended on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index was up by 0.5% while the BSE Small Cap index ended higher by 0.1%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the oil & gas sector, power sector, and energy sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks in the FMCG sector, banking sector, and finance sector witnessed selling pressure.

However, the best FMCG stocks in India stayed resilient to today's sectoral form and ended on a positive note.

Shares of Apollo Tyres, Tata Investments, and NTPC hit their 52-week high today.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a mixed note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ends flat while the Hang Seng dived 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite ended higher by 1.3%.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note with Dow Jones futures trading up by 0.8%.

The rupee is trading at 79.8 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading flat at Rs 50,433 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX trade higher by 0.9% at Rs 53,390 per kg.

Note that gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks. Silver prices have fallen a lot in recent days.

The question on everyone's mind now is when will gold and silver prices recover.

In news from the pharma sector, Aster DM Healthcare was among the top buzzing stocks today.

The share price of Aster DM Healthcare jumped over 5% today as the company opened its 200th pharmacy.

Aster DM shares hit a 52-week high today after the company opened its 200th pharmacy in Kerala.

The company's retail chain has gone from 1 to 200 in 18 months. The last 100 Aster Pharmacies have come up in just eight months, making it one of the fastest-growing pharmacy chains in India.

Commenting on this, Chairman and managing director, Dr. Azad Moopen said,

In our endeavor to bring omnichannel healthcare delivery to the doorsteps of people, we are adding more pharmacies to our network of hospitals, labs, clinics and online consultation platform.

It is indeed a proud moment for us as we launch our 200th Aster Pharmacy in India at Trivandrum and extend this initiative to more and more places to provide quality healthcare at affordable cost.

For the June quarter of 2022, the company reported a subdued performance on the back of losses from new hospitals commissioned in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

However, the company has guided EBITDA margins to improve to 17-18% for GCC hospitals by Q4 of 2023. For more details on financials, check out Aster DM Healthcare's quarterly result and its financial factsheet.

Speaking of pharma stocks, despite the negative YTD performance by the BSE healthcare index, Aster DM Healthcare's share price has gained 41.9% on a YTD basis.

Moving on to news from the private conglomerate companies, Tata Sons is looking to raise US$ 4 bn for Air India.

This is to refinance the costly debt of Air India. The company plans to raise funds through a mix of equity and hybrid debt to refinance a part of Air India's debt and revamp the airline.

Note that this is an uphill task for the Tata Group as it looks to revive Air India. The company has not made profits since 2007.

The company acquired Air India airlines in October 2021 at an enterprise value of US$2.3 bn Government.

The first few months under Tata's stewardship at Air India have been challenging for the aviation industry with fuel prices rising sharply and the regulator retaining curbs on fares said, experts. On the other hand, traffic has risen close to pre-pandemic levels.

Apart from this, the group already runs two unprofitable joint ventures with Singapore Airlines and AirAsia Group in the country and has faced criticism for not running those businesses efficiently. Even though they contribute a tiny portion to the group's overall revenue.

Tata has always developed products that are sensitive to the needs of Indian consumers and hence it is India's most trusted corporate group.

The Tata Group is present in every business vertical - from hospitality to airlines and consumer goods to power and steel. It also holds a foothold in many emerging megatrends such as electric vehicles (EV), renewable energy, and now semiconductors.

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